Dec. 15 (UPI) — Ukrainian priests will move Saturday to a create a new Orthodox church independent of Russian ties.
The Orthodox Christian church in Ukraine has three separate branches, including one under the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox church’s control.
On Saturday, orthodox priests from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church are expected to meet for a historic synod to remove the Ukrainian Orthodox church from the Moscow Patriarchate, agree on the new independent church’s charter and elect its leader. The Moscow-loyal branch said it would not attend the meeting.
The Russian Orthodox church called the decision “lawless” and “political” in a statement.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has accused the Moscow-controlled branch of being a tool of the Kremlin while supporting the establishment of the independent Orthodox church.
“The creation of an independent Ukrainian Orthodox church is a necessary attribute of nation-building,” Poroshenko told Ukrainian network ICTV, adding that a chance at religious independence is an “opportunity that arises once in a millennium.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov referred to Poroshenko’s efforts to establish the independent church as a “gross interference of the government in the affairs of the church.”
Russia-Ukraine relations have been tense since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
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